Georgianna Davanelos, 42, was 'heart and soul' of El Paso Opera

Friends and colleagues of El Paso Opera executive secretary Georgianna Davanelos described her as the "heart and soul" of the operation.

Her boss called her a "ray of sunshine."

Davanelos, 42, was found dead Monday in her apartment in Northeast El Paso.

"We're all pretty numb," said Lynn Provenzano, the company's operations manager, who found Davanelos after she didn't report to work that day.

"It looked like it was a fall," Provenzano said. "The medical examiner ruled it accidental."

Provenzano last saw Davanelos Saturday night at a cast party after the final performance. The company completed its 19th season with performances of "The Barber of Seville" on Thursday and Saturday at the Abraham Chavez Theatre.

"When I got there, she said, 'Hey, I'm pretty tired. You need to take over dishing out the pasta,' " Provenzano said. "I said sure. That was it, the last time I spoke with her. She didn't show up for work (Monday)."

Davanelos joined El Paso Opera in January 2000 as a volunteer. She became its executive secretary and artist liaison, working for three different general managers.

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"Over the years many managers and singers who have never traveled to El Paso and never met Georgianna face-to-face asked enthusiastically, 'How is Georgianna doing?" Artistic and General Director David Grabarkewitz said in a prepared statement.

"She was a persistent of ray of sunshine," added Grabarkewitz, who took over in 2008.

Davanelos, whose birthday is March 26, was born in Haverhill, Mass., according to her Facebook page. She graduated from the Presentation of Mary Academy, a Catholic school in her home state, in 1989. She also studied at the University of Massachusetts' Lowell campus.

In El Paso, she sang with the First Baptist Church choir and, more recently, the St. Mark's United Methodist Church choir.